We’ve talked about the pink gun thing many times here, so a pink-stocked AR won’t take regular Gunshots readers by surprise. The interesting thing about this particular gun, however, is that it was auctioned off to raise money to help fight breast cancer.

The rifle, which was donated by DPMS, fetched $3,575. According to this, the auction attracted 34 bids and was viewed more than 23,000 times.

Sadly, you’re unlikely to see anything on this in your local paper or in any other mainstream media outlet.

—John Snow

In his review of a Mannlicher Classic for our August issue, Outdoor Life Shooting Editor Jim Carmichel was writing about the intricate single-set trigger on the rifle, which “would make a cuckoo-clock maker green with envy,” adding this aside:

As a German gunmaker once confided, “Why make it simple when it’s so easy to make it complicated?”

Which explains to perfection why so many guns of German and Austrian origin look and work the way they do.

—John Snow

Here is my friend Ken Flood giving me a quick run through on the new FNH USA SCAR weapon system. It is in his (admittedly biased) opinion, "the finest assault weapon ever made."

—John Snow

“You’ve gotta see this.”

It’s the kind of call on my cell phone I love to get when I’m at a gun show, especially when I’m at a playground like the NRA Annual Meeting.

In this case Michael Bane was urging me to haul myself over to the Bushmaster booth to look at what has to rank as one of the ultimate varmint rifles, a pre-production semi-auto .338 Lapua.

This gorgeous beast won’t be ready for some months yet according to Skip Patel, Bushmaster’s executive vice president for research and development. Among other things, Skip told me, was the need to trim some weight from the rifle, which tips the scales at about 15 pound right now.

“We can get another two pounds out of it before we’re done,” Skip said. One area they can do that in particular is in the hand guard.

The recoil ain’t much, according to Skip and the rifle’s accuracy has so far been excellent.

Look for this toy to appear in a Sand Box Conflict near you soon.

Oh, and if this chambering is too pedestrian for you how about the same platform chambered in .416 Rigby? It’s in the works…

—John Snow

Meet the Remington R-25. It is an AR-10 platform rifle built for the hunting market and is the big brother of the R-15 introduced last year.

It isn’t a secret that with the merger of Remington, Bushmaster, Marlin, H&R Firearms and DPMS that the newly formed mega-company has plans to capitalize on all the different product lines in its family. Well, the R-25 is the latest offspring of this union. With the help of DPMS, which has been making AR-style rifles for the hunting market for some time, Remington now adds a new twist.

The all-camo R-25 will be chambered in .243 Win., 7mm-08 Rem. and .308 Win. initially. 

This rifle is built with hunters in mind and, according to Remington spokesmen, will feature a single-stage trigger that comes from the factory with a 4.5- to 5-pound trigger pull, a 20-inch barrel and a 1-in-10 inch twist in all calibers.

For those not familiar with the DPMS/R-25 upper, the rifle loses some weight via metal taken from the receiver and out of the Picatinny rail. The result is a flat-top AR-10-style configuration that weighs in around 8.75 pounds.

The shallow flutes in the barrel in front of the gas block give the rifle a distinctive look as does the full-coverage Mossy Oak Treestand camo. Speaking of the gas block, it has a rail on top to mount a fixed front sight if the shooter wishes.

The rifle ships with a 4-round magazine, but will accept other AR-10 style mags with greater capacities. The free-floating barrel is protected by a hand guard styled with horizontal cuts along its length and has two swivel stud attachments on it—one for a sling, another for a bipod. In addition, the barrel features a recessed target crown.

The MSRP for the new R-25 is $1,532 but expect street prices somewhere between $1,200 and $1,300. Assuming you can find one of course. According to Remington, the company has already sold out this year’s quota to its various dealers. So if you see one and want one you better act fast.

—John Snow

Update:

Specs on the R-25 from Remington

Camo: Mossy Oak Treestand

Barrel: 20-inch carbon steel fluted / .680-inch muzzle with recessed crown / Koelbl single-rail gas block

Chamber: .308 Win., .243 Win., 7mm-08 Rem.

Bolt Carrier: Heat-treated 8620 steel bolt and bolt carrier

Sights: None

Hand Guard: Aluminum free-floated

Upper Receiver: 6066 T-Aluminum / Hard-coated and full camo / Forward-assist and shell deflector / Right-hand eject / Picatinny rail

Lower Receiver: Milled from solid block of 6061 T-Aluminum / Hard-coated and full camo / Internal trigger guard / Aluminum mag release button

Stock and Grip: Standard A-2 Zytel stock with trap door assembly and A-2 Zytel pistol grip

Trigger: Single-stage hunting trigger set at 4.5 to 5-pound pull

Weight: 8.75 pounds

Length: 39.75 inches

Magazine: 4-round magazine / Accepts aftermarket AR .308-type

Action: Semi-auto / Gas-operated

Rate of Twist: 1 in 10 inches

MSRP: $1,532

Happiness might be a warm gun, but real pleasure is found in a gun with a sweet trigger. I’ve recently upgraded a couple favorite rifles with Timney triggers and in both cases the effect is like falling in love all over again with your sweetheart.

Replacing a trigger is not difficult. Equipped with basic mechanical skills and a small selection of appropriate tools just about anybody can do it. In most instances, as with my Weatherby Vanguard Sub-MOA, you simply take the old one off and put the new one on—plug and play. I popped out a pin or two, tightened a screw and, voila, my .257 Weatherby now has a crisp two-and-a-half pound trigger that is second to none.

Other trigger swaps require a little bit of fitting and tweaking as was the case with my Remington 798.